So as I said in my last post, I am pretty much a brand new woodworker, but man have I gotten sucked into it. Over the past 3 months I have started trying to build a workshop out of the last 10 feet or so of my garage, and it’s coming along. It’s amazing how much my empty garage has changed in only 3 months. Unfortunately my wife still insists on parking her car in my woodshop. Oh well. I know when to pick my battles. The tablesaw is an older model Powermatic Artisan saw that I got off craigslist. I built the plywood with hardboard side table which has made it a lot easier for me to use. The workbench is actually made from plywood a friend of mine was throwing away and I asked for in the nick of time. Probably will build a more traditional bench somewhere down the road in my woodworking career but for now, it’s rock-solid stable and has a good working surface. Kinda had to make a split top design because the plywood was already ripped to 12inch strips for some built-in bookcases he never installed. Also built the table my lathe is on. Plenty stable for small stuff but I just tried turning a big log and that was really terrifying. The drill press is sitting on an old ikea shelf I used as my underwear drawer in college! Oh and Home Depot sold me that drill for $20!!!! It didn’t have the chuck, the childproof switch locker thing so they couldn’t turn it on in the store so they sold it for $20! I need to frame that receipt. Still have a long way to go. Need dust collection (badly), a bandsaw, a planer and a jointer.

Hugh, this looks like a pretty nice shop to me. You have done well with the space that you have available. You are a very understanding husband to allow your wife to park her car in your shop. But I can well understand where you are coming from since I would not even try to talk mine out of her garage space. It looks like you get quite a bit a natural light in there from the window. I am a firm believer in getting as much natural light in the shop as possible.

You also have a nice set of tools to play with. And it looks like you have plenty of room to add some more.

Thanks for the tour. I enjoyed taking a look at your shop.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Great shop. I made my bench out of plywood and I like it, Yours looks just fine to me. It’s, flat, heavy, stable, and solid; what more do you need? I’m starting a router table and lathe table using a variation of the same theme.

-- Michael: Hillary has a long list of accomplishments, though most DAs would refer to them as felonies.